Blank Space
by Stephanie Michaelis
Summary: Anastasia Rabenda is a mass murderer of the wicked. She harbors secrets from her past, but is just an average girl until Truly, a Shinigami's Death Note is thrown into the human world, about a month before Light finds his. Once she finds her Death Note, she begins to slowly, methodically kill off those who have done the world wrong. But then Light Yagami comes into the picture
1. Resurrection

Death was what surrounded them. Fear is what she felt. It was a complete dystopia. They usually just sat there, gambling away what they didn't have. They surrounded her, laughed, consumed her, Truly didn't know what to do. Ah was a Shinigami, and sure, if these were humans or any other lower rank creature, she'd be able to, excuse her language, kick ass. But they were other Shinigami. Ones bigger than her, stronger. Being what she was, she shouldn't feel fear, what could they do to her? But she knew all too well there were punishments worse than death in the Shinigami world. Her Death Note was being tossed carelessly, as if it didn't hold the weight of the world in the palm of its hand. The balance of human lives was in that very notebook, they tossed it once more, then they lost it in the glare of the ever dim light. And that's when it left. No one saw how it left the Shinigami realm, and no one saw when it entered the human realm. But it did, and it landed right on the roof of the Rabenda rooftop.

Anastasia sat, curling a finger through her wavy chocolate hair. The words were dull to her, distant as always. Nonfiction books, as informative as they were to, just dragged to her. So she didn't bother to read along with them, much less annotate as all her other classmates had been vigorously doing. Some ignored the lesson like she did, but the rest were suck ups, in her opinion. It was her writing that kept her afloat in this class, she didn't do much of the homework. She had bigger aspirations than to peak in high school. Most of her teachers liked to think she wouldn't go anywhere. She knew better. She walked home, the streets were busy, packed to say the least. But it was always this way in Japan and she had grown use to the oblivious hordes of people that never knew how to properly walk. She grew slightly irritated at the slow moving throngs, but did not speak up. It would not be fair to take out her anger on some innocent bystander. The tv blared the newscast. Breaking News, another body found, now officially a serial murderer case. A small shiver went down her back at that word. Serial murder. She remembered her mother's brown eyes, so sad with blue skies when they found the mangled corpse of their family dog, Thorn. At first they thought it was just an awful accident, their dog loved to play outside. They assumed a wolf had gotten it or something, just an awful turn of events. She had been heartbroken. She luckily hadn't been the one to find him, but she always loved that dog. He watched over her when she slept and cuddled her. But when they returned home from a visit to their grandparents to find their mother brutally slaughtered The blood was everywhere, staining carpets, curtains, memories. She shook her head like a wet dog drying itself would. The past had no place in the present. She closed her eyes, and turned the rusted gold key into its rightful place. She entered her house, to find it empty besides her purring amber cat, looking up at her with chartreuse eyes. She gives her a reassuring pet then walks to the cluttered fridge. At first she ignored the notes and papers that was the chaos of the fridge, grabbed an apple and bit into it. Juice ran down her chin as she chewed it with careful thought. She then read the note with her daily tasks on it, as her dad was at work. There was a single scribble. _Please clean the gutters._ She sighs; this was one of her least favorite tasks, but I was ordered, so what could she do? She walked to her room, which was painted a deep lilac, then quickly changed into more suitable attire for the task. After all, a skirt would not be appropriate for climbing a ladder. She wouldn't want all of the neighborhood to see her underwear, after all. She was a practical woman. The weather in Japan was pleasant today, wind ruffled her hair and sun broke through puffy clouds. Children were playing across the street. Their distant laughter was drowned out as she climbed the sturdy silver ladder. She sighed at the familiar feeling of getting leaves and dirt under her long nails. She moved along, cleaning and removing the gunk from her family homes gutters until she stumbled upon it. And that was the moment everything changed. Everyone's fate from that moment was sealed. Life was not as it seemed.

When she picked up the Death Note she initially thought it had been from some sort of prank shop. The neighborhood kids and her brothers played a lot in their yard, it must have gotten thrown up here by accident. Truly watched from a distance. She knew it had not touched the ground of Earth. It was not yet certain that she would be bound to this girl. But it seemed to happen in slow motion as she tossed the notebook over her shoulder. It hit the ground softly, and from that moment on Truly could not leave the Earth, for long anyways. That night, she sat in her room, dawdling as usual when she first saw her. She would have screamed but her voice caught in her throat. Then she came to her senses.

"Very funny. Chris, Marco where did you get that thing."

"Yes, very fucking funny, sweetie." Growled the raspy voice of Truly. The look on Anastasia's face was hilarious, she wished she could inflict this type of fear on all her bullies.

"W-what are you?" she stuttered, losing her usual calm collected composure

"A Shinigami." She explained concisely.

"But those are supposed to be myths… Unless."

"That is what the mundane world will continue to think that. If you go yelling bout a Shinigami in your room when you're the only one who can see me, they'll take you to the mental ward and diagnose you with schizophrenia."

"So I'm the only one who can see you?"

"Yes, because you're the only one who has touched that notebook. All the provisions provided in there are true." She rushed to her bag where she had stashed the notebook. After her brothers denied owning it, she figured she'd use it as a notebook for class. Even if it was a bit morbid. She had to test it out. She glances out the window and in the distance sees movement. At first she is puzzled but then she remembers the neighborhood stray dog, Vanish. They called him that because he came and went subtly, but was generally pretty docile. She flipped open the book and wrote the name. Time seemed to move heavily, slowly, but eventually nothing happened.

"Animals are another story. We're Shinigami, not monsters. But I assure you it does work." She contemplated for a minute. She had no targets in mind.

The next day was a breeze. It went by just as effortlessly as always, she as usual, couldn't fight the oncoming sleepiness though. Truly was quiet the entire day, seemingly stewing in her own pit of depression, upset about how she had gotten into this mess. It was all okay until about fifth period. She never took any honor classes. Too much work for a girl with the world on her mind. So as usual, she was surrounded by idiots. She sat, dazing in and out of sleep.

"Hey faggot!" She jumped up, just in case that was directed toward her. But no, it wasn't her that was the target of this reckless onslaught of intimidation. It was Toshio, the boy in front of her. He had come out the year before and in this ignorant, not so progressive school, faced constant ridicule because of it. But it wasn't her problem, so why should she involve herself? So she didn't. For the time being. But once the bell was about to ring, the seemed like she was scribbling down some last notes….

The boy collapsed in less than a minute, clutching his chest for dear life. The teacher ran to his aid but something in her gut told her she too late.

"Call the nurse!" she yelled. When the ambulance arrived, it was already too late. Sixth period was axed; every student was outside the school watching as this shallow man was zipped up in a body bag. When his mother arrived on the scene, she burst into quiet sobs, that gradually got louder until they were screams for loss, for sorrow, for grief. No one in school shed a tear, for they knew what a bigoted brat this man had been. The white truck carried the boy away, as the congregation burst into rapid conversation. All except Anastasia. She cracked a devilish smile, showing her crooked white teeth, malice in her eyes.

"Perfect,"


	2. Kira

Araya Tetsu

She signed the name, each loopy letter contributing to the thief's demise. She tittered a bit, watching the criminal running away from the store. She was all too familiar with how it worked after the month of using it. No one had noticed a thing. She had spaced out her murders by a few days and varied her methods of killing, being oddly specific, according to Truly. It was actually very methodical and strategic. She watched as the man, with a thin sickly figure that looked like he could be snapped in two, and hair that wisped around in the wind, seized up, grabbed his chest and screamed agony and panic. She smirked, clutching her notebook to her chest as his pursuers caught up to the man on the floor, astounded at his sudden affliction.

"You better get out of here, before they notice you."

"No one will notice me. No one will even think twice about the notebook." Anastasia stands up, her light brown hair in a high ponytail, swinging back and forth as she did so. She has her back to the large screen in the middle of the plaza, not paying attention until it blared bright blue.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special worldwide broadcast form ICPO, Interpol. We'll start now." She didn't even flinch when she heard this, it was probably just another program about a mass murder. Just another bit of scum she'd have to eliminate.

"I am Lind. L. Tailor, the sole person who is able to mobilize the world's police. Also known as L."

"Who the hell…?" she whispers and Truly emits a high pitched giggle.

"You didn't know there were people investigating you, did you?"

"You're joking. I've been so careful!"

"Apparently not careful enough." The man resumed his speech.

"There has been a string of serial killings targeting criminals. This is the most atrocious act of murder in history and will not go unpunished." She had thought she had been invincible. She hadn't even had time to concoct a backup plan for getting caught. She berates herself at how unprepared she was. "I will definitely catch the one behind these murders, commonly known as Kira." Kira? Killer? She had a name? How had they figured it out? She had been so damn careful! Calm down, she reprimanded. They have nothing on you. Unless she acts guilty, they don't have anything. "Kira, I have a pretty good idea behind your motive and why you're doing this."

"You don't know jack shit." She whispered, flashing back to her young self, finding her mother's bloody corpse.

"But what you're doing is evil!" Her head snaps up, and she glares at the man.

"This has to be a farce." She growls. She watches as the man doubles over; her breath catches. She checks herself, to make sure she hadn't unconsciously done anything to kill the man. But no, the death note firmly away in her bag. There was no way this man just happened to have a heart attack. This was another Death note, she knew it it had to be! If she didn't do it, then who? The man died very dramatically, hitting the desk and clutching his chest. She smirked, she hadn't been caught after all. "Truly, you didn't say anything about there being another Shinigami in this realm. Or any one else with a death note."

"I didn't have to."

"You are not allowed to lie to me. Ever."

"If you say so. But I never lied. Just didn't say everything. Do you want to know my shoe size as well?"

"How about you stop being a snarky little bitch? If you want to live happily ever after, it's in your best interest to stick by my side, or do you want to go back to the Shinigami realm, where everything is all just shits and giggles all the time isn't it? It was hell on earth for you anyways. They always harassed you."

"H-how did you-?"

"I didn't. Until now." She smirks and continues on her way. Her troubles were obliterated for the time being Her new task, was finding this new "Kira" fellow. If he would listen to reason, he might make an ally out of him. But If he was as stupid as he seemed, she would have to wipe him out of the running. L, whoever he had been, was gone. Until a mechanical voice took over the screen, with a very intricate and loopy L inked onto a blank sheet of paper.

"U-unbelievable. I had to check to be sure. Who would have thought you could have done this? Kira, it seems you can kill people without direct contact." Sirens went off in her head. Would they be looking for a notebook now? She fingered hers, the outline in her backpack. No, they wouldn't. She was overreacting. This idiot! He was going to end up caught, and if he gets her caught, she swears, killing him will be the last thing she'll do. "I couldn't believe it before seeing it with my own eyes. Listen to me, Kira. If you just killed the man on screen, Lind L. Tailor, you just killed a man who was scheduled to be executed today. It wasn't me." Damn! L was alive and well. He must be the head of the Kira investigation, form what she had deduced in the last few minutes. "This criminal is someone the police caught secretly. His capture wasn't broadcast on the television or the internet. It seems that even you couldn't get information on him. But I, L, do exist! So come on, try and kill me!" Truly let out another high pitched giggle. She was the real genius here, she hadn't been caught, so why did she feel a burning rage within her? It flowed through her veins, this man, this imbecile had attracted police attention, and not just that, the best damn cops. She would have to think and quick. She wanted to kill this man more than anything, but alas, what could she do without a name and a face? "What's wrong? Do it quickly!" he pleaded, almost. The crowd burst into muffled whispers about how it was Kira vs. L, both of which she had been ignorant to until about ten minutes ago. "Try and kill me! What's the matter? Can't you do it?" She emitted a low, animal like growl.

"This man will die." She proclaimed.

"It seems you can't kill me. So, there are some people you can't kill. You've given me a good clue. I'll tell you something good in return. I told you this is a live worldwide broadcast, but…this is only being broadcast in the Kanto region of Japan." She breathes through her small nose, trying to keep from doing anything drastic through her abhorring and wrathful attitude. "I was planning on broadcasting this at different areas at different times, but it seems I no longer need to. Now I know that you are based in the Kanto region of Japan. The first victim was the killer in Shinjuku." That was where they started to differ. She had heard of a few cases of mysterious heart attacks, but how could she have known? Her first victim had been her classmate. "The police overlooked this case because it was so minor. Of all the criminals who died of heart attacks, Kurou Otoharada, unemployed, Shinjuku Phantom killer, this was least serious. Furthermore, his crime was only broadcast in Japan. I have deduced this much; You are in Japan, and your first victim was your guinea pig. You're just lucky you're in Kanto, the most heavily populated region in Japan. I never thought things would go quite so well, but…. Kira, it won't be too long before I can sentence you to death." Everyone breaks into a chatter, and Anastasia begins to walk away slowly, she had heard enough. She knew what she had to do. "Kira, I'm interested in how you commit the murders. But…I'll find that out when I catch you. Until we meet again…. Kira…" the screen fades to black behind her. She walks, feeling the sun shine down on her. She smiles a little, she had a plan. She arrives home, earlier than usual. No one was home, her little brothers were still in school, and her father wouldn't be home from work for another few hours. Her flat make very little noise, hitting against the hardwood floor in her room. She closes the shades, immersing both her and her colorful Shinigami in darkness.

"What are you doing?" barks Truly, still crabby from their early encounter.

"Hiding the evidence." She replies. "This floor board isn't just loose. It will only open upon applying a certain torque, one can only open this with a wide handled screwdriver. Anything else and it won't budge. And that's just to get to the decoy. The real one will be inside here." She taps the red wooden box, shiny. "It was a present from my grandmother, and the key to unlocking it is also the screwdriver." She smirks, her rage has dissipated, now replaced with a fierce need to move forward, and catch whoever was endangering her utopia. She hops on her computer, logs in and begins her search. Who was leading the investigation? She couldn't very well search that up but she did know that the head of the police force had been named Yagami… Yagami, why did that sound so familiar? Had he been a senior she held a conversation with? A criminal she'd killed? A family friend? What about that name made her think twice? She quickly grabs her latest yearbook and searches through it.

Yasuda Anju

Miyazaki Kazunori

Hironaka Urako

Light Yagami.

She scrolls through years of past students, fever since her freshmen year, only to find him in her own senior class. Of course. He had a son. But this man was much too smart to be so obvious about his killings. So could it truly be him? He was the top of their class, after all. But if his ego was driving him, that would change everything. Maybe he wanted to be noticed. She scrolls through a few websites, and using her expert skills she had mastered through years of alone time in her room, she manages to hack into Mr. Yagami's computer. Perfect, information on all the cases. She would be one step ahead of her potential opponent, and completely filled in on what the police had on her. It was…just too easy. She was hoping she would have met some kind of challenges along the way. But of this she swore: she would find this Light Yagami, determine if he was Kira and eradicate him if he posed a threat. After all, she was justice.


	3. Caught

I know you are Kira. - Ravenswood

Light read and reread those five words, those five word that resonated in his soul. _Who the hell had…_ There were so many questions, he had been so careful, but in his quest for god he did have to admit he had gotten a bit reckless. There were no fingerprints, no evidence, not even handwriting. He was certain Ryuk would have notified him if he had been followed, which had already happened with Raye Penber. He had just devised a plan to eradicate that nuisance, and here comes another one! He grips the letter, wrinkling the fine white sheet the words were pasted on. Whoever this person was, he had to eliminate them immediately.

Anastasia snickered; she had him. She had sent him the letter, and had been very meticulous not to leave a trace of herself on the letter. If he reacted in any way, she would know exactly who's name to write down in the Death Note. She had to be sure, though; if she killed someone innocent, it would be blasphemous; she had vowed to only kill criminals, wrong doers and those who got in her way. So she trailed him. Not just like any amateur though. Truly had alerted her that it was quite the possibility his Shinigami would warn him he was being followed. But, she had the advantage. Her Shinigami wanted out of her realm, and it would benefit both of them if she won this little game of cat and mouse. His Shinigami was just along for the ride. So, with the assistance of a cloak from the Shinigami realm, she trailed him. Figured out his patterns. Never followed him inside, but knew he went to school early, and went straight home, then to prep school. All that extra work made her scoff. She was never one to put in too much work into school, she knew there were more important things in life. She presumed he had an allotted time to write names. She knew he had received the letter, the shifty looks he gave everyone, as if they could be it. She snickered to herself; sucker, she was one step ahead of him. He was walking home, she was right on the corner of his street, feet slapping against the pavement. That was when her cloak slipped off, and of course that was the precise movement he turned around, and spotted her.

"Shit." She breathed. He squinted, as if making sure he knew her.

"Rabenda-chan? What are you doing here?" He strode toward her, an evil glint in his eyes.

"Fuck…" She had to think up an excuse, and fast. "Well, it's kind of embarrassing, really." She laughed it off, he smirked. "See, I've had the biggest crush on you for a while now…and... uh..." She looked up to see if he was buying it. His chocolate eyes were calculating. Finally, he smiles, a glint of crimson mixed in.

"Do you really think I'd fall for that, Rabenda-san? Or should I say Ravenswood? You're done." He hissed, so no passersby would hear. She audibly growled, gritting her crooked teeth together. He clicks open his watch and scribbles a name. She panics, seeing the beginning of her name. And that was when, with a running start, she jumped on him. He almost caught her, she didn't weigh as much as him, but even Light was surprised by her physical attack. He lost his balance and came crashing to the asphalt, her on top of him. They struggled together, wrestling for the bit of parchment form the Death note, all while Truly and Ryuk sniggered.

"Give it up, you asshole!" she snarled.

"Light."

"Now is not the time Ryuk!"

"I know, usually if a cute girl was on top of you, I'd leave you to it, but we have company."

"You've been spotted." Chimed in Truly. Both stop their struggle to see a man, right down the street, obviously trying not to be seen. Anastasia curled her hands into fists, this was not how this was supposed to go at all! Her heart thumped in her chest, her brow was covered in sweat.

"Damn!" rumbled Light. She stood up and dusted herself off. "Come on, let's go inside."

"Why should I?"

"Because, I'm fairly certain L has begun to suspect the police. I have information, and I can take you down just as easily as you can take me down, so get inside and we'll work something out." Light threw open the door, clearly pissed that his little cover had been blown. She follows behind him, irritated her own cover had been blown as well; she had been so damn careful, now this arrogant jerk would ruin it for her! She removes her shoes, out of courtesy not for Light but for his family. They climb up the stairs, toward Light's room.

"Light, can you help me with-."

"Sayu! What do you want?" Light asks, not unkindly, more surprised by his sister's sudden appearance. She peers round his shoulder at the slightly shorter brunette girl.

"Who's this?" she inquires, wiggling her eyebrows at her older brother.

"Just a friend."

"No, she's your girlfriend isn't she? It's been a while since you brought a girl home, Light!" She squeals, clearly excited. My stomach does a flip. _Girlfriend?_ Not in a million years. Light, wanting to get this over with, simply pinched the bridge of his nose. What really made her sneer through, was the legendary Light Yagami had not had a real girlfriend in some time; something girls fawning over him would be dying to know.

"You got me, Sayu. I promise I'll help you in a little bit, okay?"

"Okay." Anastasia continues to follow him mindlessly, in shock about the whole girlfriend thing. "Wait are you guys going to make out?" Light slams the door, tossing his bag to the side. Once the weight of what has just happened sunk in, Anastasia picks up her Death note and whacks Light across the head with it.

"I am not your girlfriend." She hisses, repugnant. He rubs the back of his head, it hadn't hurt much, anyways.

"Well, what did you want me to sa-?" He stops, now seeing Truly, large and hovering behind Anastasia. A sinister smile spreads across his face.

"So you have one too." She curses herself. She needed to stop being so damn impulsive, it was going to end her. "Have you used it?"

"Of course not."

"There's no use lying here, Rabenda-san." She carefully weighs her options.

"Perhaps I have. You spill first." She orders, plopping down in a chair by his desk. He uses a pen to unlock the desk, and soon is holding a Death note. She tosses him hers, and he catches with grace, repeating the motion to her. She flips through the sheets, ink splattered on the lined pages. It was a beautiful massacre. "You've written a lot."

"I could say the same for you." They switch notebooks again. "Now." He starts. "Who in the world could that be?" He gestures outside to the mysterious an in the trench coat.

"You tell me. You're the one with the cop for a daddy. I'm just an innocent school girl." He chuckles.

"Innocent?! You're in as deep as I am." He pauses, then looks into her violet eyes, completely serious." I'm fairly certain." He weighs each word, revealing only what is necessary. "That L had begun to suspect the police. He could have maybe fifty people investigating them." She nods.

"So we should look like a couple of love birds." She sighs, now it is her turn too pinch the bridge of her nose. How had she gotten herself wrapped up in all this? "And why should I pretend to be the famous Light Yagami's girlfriend?"

"Because if you don't, I'll-."

"You'll what? Write my name in the Death note? Don't forget, _sweetheart_." Her voice is sickly soft, dangerous, even. "I can do the same for you."

"What I meant was, we'll go down together if we're at each other's throats constantly."

"What are you saying?" She had an inkling of an idea and she didn't like it. She meant to eliminate this boy.

"I propose a temporary truce. Think about it We have the power of gods. And there's two of us! Together, I don't see how we could be stopped."

"How temporary are we talking?"

"Until L is out of the picture."

"I suppose…But first, we need to find out why you were being trailed. We were seen together. That means I'm immediately in as deep of shit as you are."

"We aren't in anything yet. They have no evidence." He reassured her.

"Light." Cackled Ryuk.

"Yes, Ryuk?"

"We've been holding out on you."

"Truthfully, I didn't want this kind of power in the hands of these little brats." Growled a hostile Truly.

"There is two big differences between Shinigami and humans that have a Death note. Do you know why Shinigami write human's names in the Death Note."

"Of course they don't! They're just humans, after all."

"Both of you are really talkative today."

"It's annoying." Growled Anastasia.

"It's because Shinigami receive the remaining life span of the human." He pauses and looks to Anastasia, then to Light.

"Go on." Grants Anastasia.

"Say a human was to live to sixty in the Human World, but his name is written in the Death Note at forty, sixty minus forty equals twenty. Those twenty years in the Human world are added onto a Shinigami's life span. As long as we don't slack off, even if we're fatally shot or stabbed, Shinigami will not die."

"What's that have to do with us?"

"He's getting to that!" snaps Truly.

"But no matter how many names you two write in the Death Note, you won't receive any added years onto your life span. That's the first difference between Shinigami and a human with a Death Note."

"That's kinda interesting." Admits Light.

"But our second difference is probably of more interest to you two." He grins, more than usual. "Instead of lengthening life, it's about shortening it." He pauses once more, taking in their reaction. Anastasia wears a poker face. "When a Shinigami sees a person's face, they know their name, do you know why?"

"Of course they don't." answers Truly.

"Quit asking such tedious questions!" scolds Anastasia. Truly winces at her tone.

"In a Shinigami's eyes, a human's name and lifespan can be seen above a person's head."

"Name…and life span."

"Now finally, something of use!" exclaims Anastasia.

"Of course, in my eyes, Light Yagami and Anastasia Rabenda, I can see your names and life spans, right now."

"If we cared enough, we could convert it to human time and know how long you have left." adds Truly "But we'll never tell you." She sneered. Ryuk hoots at the flash of anger that passes through Anastasia's bright indigo eyes.

"Shinigami never have trouble telling the names of the people they kill. They also know how many years they are going to gain from it. That's the crucial difference between you and me."

"Here's the good part!" giggled Truly

"Shinigami can turn the eyes of whoever picked up their death note into Shinigami eyes." Light audibly hasps, surprised while Anastasia sits, stone still.

"But only if a deal is made, one that's been with us since ancient times." Light furrows his brow; Anastasia sighs; he was giving them too much power over him.

"A deal?"

"The price for a Shinigami's eyes…"

"Well spit it out." Ordered an impatient Anastasia. Ryuk's pointy teeth look especially dangerous in the low light, and his slightly cross eyed cardinal eyes staring intently at Light, while Truly gazed at Anastasia expectantly

"Is half that person's remaining life span."

"Of course, if you two are dead set on working together, only one of you would have to make the deal." Recognizes Truly.

"Half…"

"Of our remaining life spam…?"

"Yeah. In other words, if you were to live another fifty years, you'd live twenty-five."

"Or if you had a year, you'd live six months."

"And since you're neither Kira's ally or L's…"

"You won't just give away the name of the man following Light, or L's real name." breathed Anastasia at the realization.

"In other words, if one of you gives up half your remaining life span, you will be at an advantage."


End file.
